Arbitration Bill [Lords]

Olly Glover Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 29th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)]

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive history of arbitration in the United Kingdom. It has been a long time since I have considered John Locke, having studied him as part of a history of political thought paper, which feels almost as long ago as the starting point of the Minister’s survey.

The Liberal Democrats welcome the reintroduction of the Bill and its wide support across the House. As the Minister said, the Arbitration Act 1996, which governs arbitration in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is more than 25 years old. As he also said, the Law Commission estimates that there are at least 5,000 arbitrations annually in England and Wales, worth at least £2.5 billion to the economy in arbitrator and legal fees alone. Arbitration is also important in supporting a whole range of business activities, as has been outlined.

An effective legal and dispute resolution process is one of the underpinnings of a successful democratic and trading nation, and something of which the United Kingdom has historically been proud. The Bill will help to maintain that status, based on recommendations from the Law Commission and, as the Minister has said, particularly that of London as one of the great centres of international arbitration. The Bill implements recommendations made in a 2022-23 Law Commission review of arbitration law to support more efficient dispute resolution. The legal sector has widely supported the targeted reforms in the Bill, with positive feedback from public consultations held by the Law Commission.

Two key issues were raised in Committee in the other place, which we are happy to see resolved. The first was on the subject of corruption risk. The Liberal Democrats pressed the Government to provide more information to ensure that confidential arbitration is not abused to hide corruption from public scrutiny. We thank the Minister for detailing the actions being taken by arbitral institutions to militate against the risk of arbitration being misused and we were satisfied with the reassurance given. The second concerns the right of appeal. The Liberal Democrats were glad to support the two amendments tabled by the Government to correct the drafting of clause 13, following concerns that the original clause provided a more limited access to the Court of Appeal than was established in case law.

In conclusion, the Liberal Democrats are pleased to support the Bill. Given some of the other discussions in this House today, we welcome an uncontroversial contribution to the economic growth that this country needs.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

We now come to the wind-ups. I believe the shadow Minister has a few comments he wishes to make.

Oral Answers to Questions

Olly Glover Excerpts

Tuesday 10th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

I believe that all who have written have received a response from the Ministry, but I will chase down that specific case. The way we implemented the policy meant that we were able to give the Probation Service time to prepare which was not available to it under the previous Tory Government’s end of custody supervised licence scheme. That means that all victims who were supposed to be notified under the victim contact scheme have been notified.

[Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)]

16. What discussions she has had with the chief coroner on reporting sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)]

I recently met the chief coroner. We did not discuss the specifics of this issue, but coroners have a statutory duty to investigate deaths that are not reported to them if they suspect that the cause is unknown, violent or unnatural, or that the death occurred in custody or other state detention.

[Olly Glover]

The charity SUDEP Action, which is based in my Oxfordshire constituency of Didcot and Wantage, provides specialist support for bereaved families. Improvements to the coroner service would help to reduce trauma, improve understanding of the causes of death, and enable more research to aid prevention of future deaths. Will the Minister press for more investment in, and support for, the coroner service?

[Alex Davies-Jones]

The Government recognise the impact of delays and the other issues facing coroners at the moment, and the impact that that is having on bereaved families and the wider systems. We welcome the recent Justice Committee report on the coroner service, and I look forward to working closely with the chief coroner, local authorities and key partners to devise and deliver a wider strategy for those services.